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From the Journal of Intercultural Communication, Elza Ibroscheva and Jyotika Ramaprasad (SIU): Do Media Matter? A Social Construction Model of Stereotypes of Foreigners; and Gabriele Pallotti (Modena) and Cecilia Varcasia (Bolzano): Service Telephone Call Openings: A Comparative Study on Five European Languages. A neglected east-central European dispute involving a breakaway statelet, regional rivalry, contested territory, black markets and bearish presidents seems to have all the ingredients of a Caucasus-Balkans bloodbath — but seen close, Moldova-Transdniestria dissolves such preconceptions. From TED, Martin Seligman talks about psychology — as a field of study and as it works one-on-one with each patient and each practitioner. From Cyberpsychology, Alistair Duff (Napier): The Normative Crisis of the Information Society. The Republican Party is relying on a specific kind of Southern white person to shore up its power base, but that demographic can't be counted on for long. As his book Why We Suck hits the shelves, Denis Leary talks about lazy parenting, the media storm surrounding his views on autism, and the omnipotence of Oprah. A review of Cosmic Imagery: Key Images in the History of Science by John D. Barrow. Government is back: On Jan. 20 the Age of Reagan ends, and the Age of Obama begins.

From International Socialist Review, an article on the limits of identity politics; and is Marxism deterministic? Debunking a common myth about Marxism. A review of Shakespeare: A Life in Seven Chapters by Edward S. Brubaker. Magic tricks reveal inner workings of the brain. From Contexts, Robert J. Sampson (Harvard): Rethinking Crime and Immigration. From Open Democracy, after Iraq and Afghanistan, amid China's rise and Russia's challenge, can western democracy any longer offer a universal model? Rein Mullerson offers a qualified, contingent and contextual answer. A review of The Illusion of Freedom and Equality by Richard Stivers. A review of Making Poor Nations Rich: Entrepreneurship and the Process of Economic Development (and more). A review of Proust and the Squid: The Story and Science of the Reading Brain by Maryanne Wolf (and more from Bookforum). From Mental Floss, here's a brief history of stadium naming rights. From GJSS, a special issue on practising feminist interdisciplinarity. A Habsburg Plan for Brussels: A review of “Empire by Devolution: What Today’s EU Can Learn From Franz Josef I’s Empire”. The ruins of our gauzy past: A review of Lost Buildings by Jonathan Glancey. Does the word still reverberate religiously for us? A review of Providence Lost by Genevieve Lloyd. More on The Bagel by Maria Balinska.

From Law, Social Justice and Global Development, Robert Fine (Warwick): Cosmopolitanism and Human Rights; Peter Fitzpatrick (Birkbeck): Is Humanity Enough? The Secular Theology of Human Rights; and Anne Stewart (Warwick): Globalising Gender Justice? From Environmental History, a review of A History of Water (Volumes 1, 2 and 3) by Terje Tvedt and Eva Jakobsson; a review of American Wilderness: A New History; a review of How Green Were the Nazis? Nature, Environment and Nation in the Third Reich; and a review of Kitchen Literacy: How We Lost Knowledge of Where Food Comes from and Why We Need to Get It Back by Ann Vileisis. Affluence, it's so last season: The recession has got fashion glossies in a tizz; they should take a tip from Marie Antoinette. A review of American Therapy: The Rise of Psychotherapy in the United States by Jonathan Engel. A review of The Philosopher and the Wolf: Lessons from the Wild on Love, Death and Happiness by Mark Rowlands. A review of Bloomsbury Ballerina: Lydia Lopokova, Imperial Dancer and Mrs John Maynard Keynes by Judith Mackrell. More on Reading the OED: One Man, One Year, 21,730 Pages by Ammon Shea. The Spirit of ’76: Democratic overreach derailed Jimmy Carter’s presidency — and may do the same for Barack Obama’s.